


Waste Not, Want Not

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2019 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, Friendship, M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 12:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17488307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Money prompt:MCU, Steve Rogers, little things Steve does to save moneyIn which Steve and Bucky are thrifty, and Sam mocks them for it.





	Waste Not, Want Not

“Shouldn’t we just call Stark?” Sam asked, leaning over Steve’s shoulder.

Steve was sitting at the little dining room table in the apartment he shared with Bucky, a bone of contention with Stark, who constantly offered to set them up at the Tower. Bucky was sitting opposite him, his metal arm stretched across the table. The pinky finger was twitching and making a faint grinding noise.

“It’s an easy fix. I can do it.” Steve held Bucky’s hand carefully in his own. “Can you get the screwdriver set from the kitchen drawer?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Sam had been surprised the first time Steve invited him over. He knew how much money both men had, back pay from the military that Stark made sure they received, but the apartment was modest. They could’ve easily purchased the entire building.

The kitchen appliances were top of the line, but there was an old-fashioned coffee percolator on the stove and no dishwasher. Sam wasn’t overly familiar with the set-up behind all the doors and drawers, but he knew where the silverware was kept so he was able to bypass that particular drawer.

Not unexpectedly, everything in the kitchen was carefully organized. Including the junk drawer, which Sam found on the third try. There were two tidy rows of clear plastic containers filled with straightened twist ties, a wide variety of rubber bands, the little plastic tabs that came on some bread bags, and bakery twine. There was even a Ziploc bag filled with other Ziploc bags, presumably to be reused.

The little yellow case of tiny screwdrivers was in the drawer beneath that one, alongside neatly folded paper bags, broken-down bakery boxes, and squares of tin foil that had the wrinkles partially smoothed out.

“You two are the neatest hoarders I’ve ever seen,” Sam said when he returned to the dining room. He handed the screwdrivers to Steve. “You know you don’t have to save garbage, right?”

“No sense throwing out something that might be useful,” Steve replied. He selected a diminutive screwdriver and popped open a tiny access panel on Bucky’s hand. “My mother used to say, ‘waste not, want not’. Everything today is disposable.”

“Just ‘cause we can afford to throw our dough away doesn’t mean we should,” Bucky said.

“Guess that’s a holdover from the old days.” Sam took a seat at the table, careful not to jostle the table. “You eat moldy cheese, too? My great-granddad used to do that. And he ate chicken bones.”

“I was never desperate enough to eat mold,” Steve said, tinkering with the inner workings of Bucky’s hand. “My mom used to cut it off the cheese and the bread.”

“Bone marrow is good eating,” Bucky offered, flashing Sam a grin. “It’s gotten big with the foodies.”

Sam had gotten roped into watching Food Network shows with the guy more than once. Bucky was teaching himself to cook, with varying degrees of success.

“Marrow on toast is good,” Steve said, his tongue poking out between his lips as he bent closer to Bucky’s hand. He gave one final twist of the screwdriver and the pinky finger stopped twitching. “That should do it.”

He closed up the little panel, and Bucky flexed the hand, a pleased look on his face.

“Used to be, people would fix things instead of just throwing them away and buying new,” Steve said. He nodded his head at the old radio cabinet under the window. “When we were growing up, things like that were meant to last.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Things were better in the glory days. You old folks are all the same.”

Steve and Bucky exchanged a look, the one that Sam classified as Goo-Goo Eyes.

“Some things are better now,” Steve said softly.

“Fine dining, for one thing,” Sam said in an attempt to diffuse any upcoming public displays. “Can we go now? I’m starving.”

Bucky hooked an arm around Sam’s neck and gave him a big, wet kiss on the cheek. “Young kids today have no patience.”

“Jeez, buy me dinner first, man.”

Steve waved his cell phone. “Our Uber is here.”

“The future is now,” Bucky intoned solemnly.

“You’re an idiot,” Sam said amiably. 

“Unhand the good Mr. Wilson, James. People might talk.”

A good-natured shoving match ensued, but Steve managed to get them out the door. 

“Tell you what, old-timer,” he said to Steve. “We’ll make sure to grab a handful of sugar packets to add to your hoard.”

“Stealing.”

“Not stealing.”

“Here we go,” Bucky said, and rolled his eyes.

Sam couldn’t keep the grin off his face as they started the familiar argument. He was lucky to have the friends he did. Even if they did reuse tin foil.


End file.
